Wednesday, August 15, 2007

TransRockies Day 1 - Skirt season is officially over!

There are close to 600 riders in the race this year. As a result, the start was slow and congested. The route started quickly in to a long climb. The first 6 or 7 kilometres was essentially ridable, but the congestion of riders made it difficult to find a line to ride.

The route then turned to single track, which created a substantial bottleneck in the flow of riders. A lot of start and stop and standing around made for slow progress. We took advantage and rested while we could as we knew we would soon be upon the hike a bike section.

The hike a bike was only three kilometres, but it was tough. The pitch was steep and the path just kept going up and up. My calves and lungs begged for mercy, but it was futile. The hill was relentless.

Then it was all down hill - but certainly not easy. Exposed off camber single track. Tight ridden out switchback after tight ridden out switchback. Twisty singletrack through trees. I took three crashes (only two of which were driver error). Total rider damage: some road rash and bruises on the legs, hips and shoulders and a few stiches by my ear (no, Cindy did NOT try to bite it off, but it was a little odd that she used After Bite to clean my wounds - ouch!). I damaged my shifter cables enough to require replacement, forcing me to eat my pre-race words 'I don't get mechanicals'.

Overall, a kick ass day. We lost a lot of time on account of my spills, but made it through with a smile. The best part of the day was having a really great team mate. Cindy was phenomenal and a big reason the day was so much fun. It's going to be a great week.